SEO Is Changing: How to Adapt and Thrive

SEO is a cornerstone of any good digital marketing plan, but it is important to say ahead of the curve and recognize when trends are changing. Chiropractic practices in particular need to ensure that patients can find them easily through search engine optimization, since it can be easy to become lost among competitors in the field. Being the first to adapt to a changing search engine landscape will help you to reach new patients while maintaining current ones. Here are some fresh recommendations from marketing experts to update your SEO in 2017 and beyond.

Include various media.

Users searching for your chiropractic website are looking for information about your practice and the services and procedures you offer, so be sure to give it to them. Videos detailing specific procedures and answering frequently asked questions offer useful facts while letting visitors get to know your practice on a more personal level. Photos and infographics also increase engagement and create an instant connection between the user and your website. Try experimenting with adding different types of non-text content gradually and noting how it affects your website traffic.

Consider the role of voice search.

With over half of adults claiming that they regularly use voice search, it makes sense to target your website to these users. Be aware of the searcher’s intent and include question words as well as SEO keywords to help them find your site, since a common voice search would be along the lines of, “Where is a chiropractor near me?”

Mobile search is taking over.

Google reported in 2015 that mobile searches outnumbered desktop for the first time ever, and this trend is likely to continue. Recently, Google announced the unveiling of its Mobile First Index, meaning that the search engine giant will now be crawling the mobile version of sites before any others. Of course, this means that optimizing your site for mobile users is more important than ever before. Sites that incorporate responsive design that appears the same across devices should be unaffected by the change.

Keywords might be on the decline.

Advances in Google’s search algorithms mean that exact keyword matches are becoming less and less emphasized in SERPs. Instead, industry experts recommend acknowledging the search engine user’s intent. What questions are they asking and why? Make sure your content is useful to visitors and addresses the broader topics they are trying to find information about—this is known as semantic SEO.

Focus on UI/UX.

After users find your site, a good UX ensures that they will stay there, decreasing your bounce rates and building a rapport with potential patients. Be sure that your mobile-optimized site loads quickly and is easy for users to navigate. A simple, uncluttered web design will help to project professionalism, and user-friendly navigation that makes it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for will create a sense of trust. Place yourself in the position of a first-time user to see if your website delivers a great user experience.